


Never Never Land

by Candid_Ishida



Category: Supernatural, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Comedy, Crack Relationships, Crossover, F/M, Hawaii, Honeymoon, Implied Relationships, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 22:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4723004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candid_Ishida/pseuds/Candid_Ishida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawaii is not exactly the Winchester brothers' home turf, but when they discover an ice apparition is running amok in Waikiki, Dean drags Sam halfway around the world to investigate, and catch a few rays in the process.  Unbeknownst to them, a pair of Japanese honeymooners named Kazuma and Yukina Kuwabara have also just arrived in the Aloha State.  Coincidence? Or a recipe for disaster?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Never Land

**Author's Note:**

> "Don't take what follows too seriously. It happens in Never-Neverland."   
> ~Arina Toshimi
> 
> This is the first crossover I've ever written, and also my first fic involving characters from Supernatural. I thought mashing up these two universes was a no brainer, but I've only found one other SPN/YYH crossover on AO3 so far.  
> The events take place some time in 2005, which would coincide with the first season of Supernatural, before angels got involved and things became complicated! Kuwabara, Yusuke and Kurama are in their late 20s, Shizuru is in her early 30s.   
> Also, there's only an implied relationship between Kurama and Hiei! The main focus is on Yukina and Kuwabara this time~

“Yeah! Sun, sand and surf! Now that's what I'm talking about!” Kuwabara exclaimed as he and Yukina burst to freedom after the long, drudging march through the customs area at the airport. He immediately reached into the carry-on bag slung over his shoulder, whipped out a pair of unnecessarily large sunglasses, and slid them onto his face.

He flashed Yukina a cool smile.

“Are you ready to enjoy two weeks of paradise, baby?” he crooned.

“As long as we have a room that's nice and quiet,” she said softly, “with a window.”

Yukina clutched her forged passport to her chest, which was slightly bent from being gripped so tightly. Her demon heart was still not functioning properly, and had been out of whack since before their eight hour flight from Tokyo even left the ground.

_“Flying is the safest form of travel,”_ Keiko said when they hugged goodbye at the airport.

_“You'll probably sleep through the entire trip!”_ Botan proclaimed.

Yukina hadn't slept for a single second, though Kuwabara's noisy snoring was not what kept her awake. The trip itself had been uneventful, aside from some minor turbulence about three hours in. Passing under the mindful eyes of airport security was the process that made her stomach toss and turn. Her passport, birth certificate, and identification card were all phony, provided as wedding presents from Koenma. The documents made it through inspection on both sides of the Pacific, but that hadn't stopped Yukina from swallowing back terror as she removed her shoes and stepped under the menacing arch of the metal detector. What if the security devices somehow saw through her human disguise? What if her hair and eye color were in violation of an unknown American custom? What if the precious hiruiseki stone hanging around her neck set off the alarms and was confiscated?

Luckily, none of those unlikely circumstances had occurred, and Yukina had survived the ordeal without panicking or inadvertently freezing one of the airport attendants. Now they were passing through wide doors onto a sidewalk where rows of taxis waited, with two large piles of luggage rolling behind them. She assumed they would snatch a cab and head right for the hotel, but Kuwabara surprised her by letting his suitcases clatter to the ground before he went running out towards the center of the parking lot.

“Wow!” Kuwabara chanted, mouth agape. He removed his sunglasses. “Yukina, come here!”

She propped the baggage against a pillar and jogged out to meet him. She was tired, frazzled, and desperately wanted a soft bed and a cold glass of water at her disposal, but when she reached the midpoint of the blacktop expanse, she understood why he was so astonished. Past the many flat runways and cruising planes was the Mamala Bay, and the deepest, bluest breadth of ocean she'd ever seen. Pristine, crystalline waters rolled on for eternity. The scope of the vista beyond them was enough to take her breath away.

“Kazuma, it's beautiful,” she sighed happily.

“Just wait 'til we get to the beach,” he said. “The water is so clear, you can see all the way to the bottom!”

He wrapped one burly arm around her and clutched her to his side, and she settled in comfortably for a moment, long enough to become attuned to the crisp, vibrant spiritual energy of their temporary home, Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Hilton Beach Resort in Waikiki was a short, thirty minute drive from the airport, so Yukina was surprised when she saw Kuwabara doling out quite a large number of dull green American bills to the driver. He grumbled and gave the driver a nasty frown as he hauled the suitcases from the trunk and dragged them to the curb. The driver, clearly displeased with not receiving a tip, sat resolutely in his seat and refused to help.

“Thanks for the ride, pal,” Kuwabara muttered as the cabbie sped off, ready to claim another victim.

“Oh my, is transportation very expensive here?” Yukina asked, bringing a hand to her mouth with worry.

“Apparently!” Kuwabara griped. “I just shelled out fifty dollars to that guy and he didn't even say 'thank you'!”

“Fifty? But, that's not much at all,” Yukina said.

“It's like, five or six thousand yen,” Kuwabara explained.

Yukina blinked with understanding. No wonder he was so upset.

Fortunately for them, cultural barriers didn't stand in their way once they entered the lobby of the hotel. Right away, she overheard several other guests speaking Japanese, and a few of the helpful, bi-lingual staff members made sure all their needs were taken care of. When they reached their room, a mountain of pamphlets and brochures translated into their native language as well as English were waiting on the nightstand. Before she bothered to look through them, Yukina raced across the room and threw open the curtains. She gasped with joy at the astonishing view visible from their window. The beach was only a stone's throw away, and the sky was so flawless and blue she felt as though the beauty of it might magic her away into a reality where nothing existed but the air and sea.

“I can't believe we're really here,” Kuwabara said, echoing her overwhelming wonder.

“The past month seems like a fantasy,” Yukina said. “I hope I don't wake up.”

She released a meek laugh, then gasped again when Kuwabara whisked her into his embrace.

“Yukina, I'm gonna make every day a fantasy for the rest of my life,” he said. “You'll never have to wake up from this dream.”

Exactly one week earlier, Yukina donned a pristine white kimono and  _ tsunokakushi _ headdress and headed a long procession up the steps of Genkai's temple, with Kuwabara at her side. Within the temple's main hall, surrounded by their families and friends, the two were married in a ceremony that mixed Shinto tradition with an outlandishness that could only come from the world of demons. Pressed black suits and colorful ties mixed with ornate prints and complicated Makai formal wear to create the most visually stunning company of guests anyone in attendance had ever seen.

Before the wedding, the couple struggled with the difficult decision of revealing Yukina's true nature to Kuwabara's parents. Shizuru joined them, prepared to serve as a mediator if necessary, as the spiritually gifted fighter explained Yukina's heritage and the unusual journey he had taken with Yusuke that led to their eventual meeting. The ice maiden had been living among humans for years, and knew the family well, but still expected the worst when it was disclosed to them that she was a demon. To her astonishment, her future husband's parents were unusually accepting, barely batting an eye when he broke the news.

Kuwabara's father stunned her the most by casually puffing on a cigarette and smiling from the living room sofa. Psychic awareness had run in their family for generations, which made Yukina wonder if Shizuru and Kuwabara's parents were conscious of her identity all along, and merely feigned innocence for the sake of their children. However they came to the conclusion, Yukina was simply relieved that her mother and father to be would not run screaming at the menagerie of youkai who were set to attend the wedding.

Genkai took the place of Yukina's mother during the ceremony, helping her dress and ushering her to her seat beside Kuwabara. Keiko and Botan sobbed discretely from the sidelines. Yusuke offered his friend a reassuring thumbs up when he noticed Kuwabara's fingers trembling nervously in his lap. Hiei, who was seated closest to the couple, next to Kurama, cast a loathing glare on Kuwabara for the duration of the ceremony, but was restrained to his station by the kitsune's firm grasp on his shoulder.

Her long lost twin brother, who'd been hiding right under her nose, was staunchly against the union. He hadn't said anything  _ out loud _ , of course, but the leers he directed at Kuwabara during the rehearsal may as well have been screams. Yukina sensed the connection between them for a long time, as far back as the Dark Tournament, but she held back her true feelings, much as Hiei did. Only when Kuwabara proposed, two years earlier, had Hiei finally sat down with her and admitted his relationship. It was in that way that he and Kurama became directly involved in the wedding preparations, a chore Kurama seemed to relish with a peculiar gusto.

_“Just living vicariously through others in my old age_ ,” the fox laughed, on the day when they settled on bright blue Forget-Me-Nots as part of Yukina's hair ornament. She wasn't sure what he meant, but was grateful for the support.

Along with their demon allies, and Kuwabara's family, his three former gang members were present at the ceremony, and could barely contain their enthusiasm over their oldest friend tying the knot with the girl of his dreams. Okubo, Miyamoto, Komada and all the other spiritually ignorant humans at the wedding were subtly charmed by Botan and Koenma on the way to the procession. Some demons were able to disguise their nature from human beings at will, but others were painfully hard to miss. The wards placed on the guests shielded anything out of the ordinary from their untrained eyes and let them cheerfully ignore the unusual appearance of the apparitions and Koenma's assistant, Jorge.

The ceremony, and the celebration that followed, had been playing in Yukina's mind again and again for the past six days. Geysers of youki and reiki, fueled by the paranormal qualities of the ancient temple grounds, permeated the atmosphere at their reception. The festivities lasted all through the night. Demons and humans shared the same joy and the same excitement for their mutual friends, and fed off of each other. Even when midnight rolled around and much of the world had gone to bed, Yukina was so high on life, she wasn't sure she could ever sleep again.

Her nerve wracking adventure at the airport had sucked away some of her vigor since then, but seeing the ocean crashing against the shore below them, and sensing the warm affection twinkling in her husband's eyes sent it racing back. Yukina cracked a broad, excited smile.

“Let's go to the beach!” she suggested.

“Really?” Kuwabara said. “I thought you were tired!”

Yukina shook her head and glanced out at the scenery again.

“Not anymore!”

After an afternoon splashing through the surf and diving down to the bed of the shallow sea, Kuwabara and Yukina went back to their room, changed their clothes, and enjoyed a romantic dinner under the stars. The ice maiden spent much of the meal staring up at her new husband fondly. For over ten years, he'd been there to make her laugh, to fawn over her, to protect her. She had no doubt that the amazing human sitting across the table would give his life for her in an instant. That kind of devotion was a rare commodity in the world of demons. It was something Yukina hadn't experienced until she came to the Ningenkai in search of Hiei, though she had endured the darker side of humanity during that time as well. Perhaps it was due to her suffering at the hands of the jewel dealer, Tarukane, that Kuwabara's enthusiasm was such a gust of fresh air. His kindness was in complete contrast to the cruelty of the human who imprisoned her. The stark juxtaposition made her appreciate his dedication even more than she might have without it.

That night, Yukina stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a powder blue baby doll nightgown draped in front of her. The material was nearly transparent. The flowing skirt was barely long enough to be considered a complete garment. She had not worn anything like it before, but she had never been married before, either. She'd never been on an airplane before, or gone to another country, or swam through the warm ocean.

_“It's okay to feel sexy,”_ Shizuru advised, when Yukina opened her gifts at the bachelorette party.

Tonight was a night for discovery, for exploring new horizons. Yukina pulled on the flimsy nightgown, and stepped into the bedroom where Kuwabara was waiting. No light was needed to detect the powerful blush that rushed to his cheeks. Heat filled the air, rising from his face. Her cold touch tempered the reaction, but only for an instant. Soon the careful grip she kept on her youki was wavering, her senses were losing all control. Yukina gasped and trembled and handed herself over to the chaos of desire, until....

 

~

 

“Check it out,” Dean announced, an impish grin had overtaken his face before he even stepped through the door.

Sam glanced up from their father's journal to eye the crumpled print-out Dean slapped down on the table. With a suspicious sigh, he scanned through the contents.

“A hotel room in Waikiki was found frozen over in a layer of ice, as well as part of the hallway, and a section of elevator shaft,” he paraphrased as his eyes skimmed over the document. He raised his eyebrow and glanced back up at his brother. “Okay, and?”

“The record low in Honolulu, I looked it up,” Dean said, tapping sharply on the paper, “is fifty-two degrees.”

“Dean, we're supposed to be hunting monsters. We're not weathermen.”

“Yeah? It gets even better,” Dean continued. “Later that night, witnesses said they saw snow falling in the lobby, and the next morning? The hotel swimming pool was an ice skating rink.”

“So, maybe the air conditioning and the heating system in the pool malfunctioned,” Sam countered. He tossed the paper back onto the shabby table of their motel room. “Where did you get this report anyway?”

Dean pointed to the URL printed across the bottom of the page.

“This online message board called 'Poltergeist Report',” he explained. “People go on there and post stories about paranormal crap they've experienced. Most of them are total whack jobs, but when this post was made, five different visitors at the same hotel commented on the story to back it up.”

“That still doesn't make it our thing,” Sam said.

“Sammy, this is definitely our thing.”

Sam narrowed his eyes and snapped the journal shut.

“You just want to go to Hawaii, don't you?”

Dean stood up and spread his arms in defeat.

“You got me, but I still think this is our kind of thing.”

“This is a waste of time,” Sam groaned. “Besides, I thought you hated flying.”

“Totally worth it!” Dean shoved his vacant chair away and started jamming belongings into his bag. “Sun, sand and surf, that's what I'm talking about!”

The Winchester brothers' bargain brand flight to Honolulu lasted a torturous fourteen hours, with layovers in three different states. Sam's level of annoyance was heightened by the incessant anxious twitch of Dean's leg beside him whenever the plane passed through a dubious cloud or patch of turbulence. He was able to make good use of the time, though, browsing through the tomes of fables, myths and legends he'd packed in his carry-on bag.

“Dean, I think you might actually be on to something,” he said, about five hundred miles between Los Angeles and Hawaii. He ran his finger under a line of text in the frayed old book on his folding tray. “The Yuki Onna, or snow woman, is said to have power over ice, wind and snow.”

“What is it, some kind of sexy Yeti?” Dean asked.

“She's a type of apparition who appears to lost travelers in the mountains of Japan. The legends go back hundreds of years,” Sam explained.

“And, what else?”

“Uh, let's see,” Sam read through the next paragraph. “Incredibly beautiful, with pale skin and long hair, like many youkai the Yuki Onna often relies on trickery to trap and freeze her victims, sometimes sucking their life force away. She usually preys on men and uses her beauty to her advantage, even seducing or marrying her quarry.”

Dean nodded with approval.

“I guess I can think of worse ways to go. But, what's a  _youkai_ ?”

“A generic Japanese name for a ghost or monster,” Sam said. He flipped through several more pages of the book. “Looks like there are dozens of different kinds, some evil, some mischievous, there's even some sort of haunted umbrella in here.”

“That's what I love about Japan,” Dean said. “Everything I learn about that place is more screwed up than what I knew before.”

He leaned over and peeked at Sam's book, dropping flakes of airline peanut onto the pages as he tore open a new bag and shoved one into his mouth.

“But, why would a monster that's been floating around Mount Fuji for a hundred years suddenly show up on the sparkly beaches of Waikiki?” Dean asked between crunches.

“Did you ever make it through a History class in high school?” Sam asked. “Even once? Hawaii has a huge Japanese-American population, plus it's crawling with Japanese tourists. A Yuki Onna posing as a human could have easily hopped a plane and blended in with the rest of the crowd.”

“It still doesn't make sense. This thing likes the cold. Sounds like she'd be more at home in Canada or Colorado if she wanted new victims,” Dean said.

Sam shrugged and clapped the book closed after shaking loose the peanut debris.

“The native Hawaiians have been there for over a thousand years. Maybe there's some kind of connection we don't know about.”

 

~

 

“Well, I got us transferred to a different room,” Kuwabara said as he approached Yukina's beach chair. “Hey! Yukina, you look great,” he added, plopping down onto the sandy towel to admire her bikini clad physique.

“Kazuma, you don't think someone will make a connection between our presence here and the frozen rooms, do you?” she asked. Yukina's legs were pulled up against her stomach, creating a tiny wall between her and the rest of the world.

“Nah,” he said. He casually shook his head and peeled off his shirt. “I told them the air conditioning must have gone haywire or something.”

“But, the swimming pool. I heard some of the other guests gossiping.”

Kuwabara swiveled around and clasped her hands suddenly. A deep, passionate stare began drilling holes into her. Yukina pulled back, until she was pressed flatly against the plastic beach chair.

“K-Kazuma?”

“Yukina, what happened last night was the greatest compliment a beautiful demon girl could give a man. When your youki exploded out of control like that,” his mouth drew up into a serious frown and his cheeks flushed, “that was the power of love flowing from me to you.”

She looked down into her lap and felt her own face turning pink.

“It  _was_ pretty exciting,” she mumbled sheepishly. “I didn't even know that could happen.”

A few meters away, the salty spray of the ocean lapped the shore and created a gently rising and receding hiss against the sand. Birds swooped overhead, their shrill cries piercing through the monotonous hum of the ocean. Kuwabara, dressed only in a loose pair of blue swim trunks, eventually let go of the ice maiden's hands and slouched back onto his beach towel.

“Hey, think you could rub some sunscreen on my back, baby?” he asked. “Urameshi said I'd come back from the honeymoon looking like a lobster and I don't wanna prove him right.”

“Of course.” She smiled and dropped down off her lounge chair, until she was crouching beside him. Yukina began slathering on the creamy sunblock, rubbing in long strokes up and down his pale back.

“He's probably just jealous because his honeymoon with Keiko was lame, and they still live with her parents,” Kuwabara said, donning a dopey grin as Yukina massaged his back.

“Yusuke and Keiko run the Yukimura's ramen shop,” Yukina said. “Doesn't it make sense for them to live there?”

“Yeah, I guess, but it's a matter of pride to own your own place!” he responded. “Working long hours, paying the rent, all with a smile on your face, that's what it means to be a real man.”

Yukina giggled and sat down in the sand once Kuwabara had been sufficiently protected from the sun's unforgiving rays.

“You're so silly, Kazuma.”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” he exclaimed, shooting up from his face down position. “I was looking at one of those brochures before they got frozen, and there's this cool volcano tour thing tomorrow. You wanna go?”

“It sounds dangerous...” Yukina said, hesitantly.

“Don't worry, sweetie!” he laughed. “It's not the erupting kind! Besides, I've faced things way more dangerous than a volcano.”

The lush, tropical forests of the island and the jagged mountain ridge were visible just north of the city, and were certain to be teeming with life. Insects, bats, amphibians and birds of every color would be waiting for them in the trees. Meeting new creatures of any kind would be exciting. Animals had been attracted to Yukina since her youth, and she found every last beast and bird had a story to tell, if only one would take the time to sit down and listen.

“So, do you wanna go?” Kuwabara asked again.

“Sure!” she replied. “It'll be wonderful!”

 

~

 

After two measly hours of sleep in the cheapest motel east of Pearl Harbor, Sam made his rounds at the Hilton in Waikiki, performing standard hunter reconnaissance. Around ten in the morning, he met back with Dean at one of the dainty, square tables in the lobby.

Sam slid into the empty chair, squinting and shaking his head incredulously.

“What the hell are you wearing?”

“I'm blending in, Sammy, taking the undercover approach,” he responded. Dean flashed a charming grin at the hostess who handed him a tall, golden glass of beer. “Ah, thank you!”

Sam groaned and rolled his eyes, running one hand through his hair with embarrassment. His brother was leaning back in the cushioned wicker chair, dressed in a baseball cap, white khaki shorts, aviator sunglasses and the most obnoxious red and teal Hawaiian shirt Sam had ever seen.

“Look, you're the one who wanted to come here, so stop lounging around playing Magnum P.I. and start taking this case seriously,” Sam said.

“Hey!” Dean lowered his shades and pointed a scolding finger in Sam's direction. “Don't knock the king of the mustache. If Tom Selleck were here he would do exactly what I'm doing.”

“Tom Selleck would be wearing tacky shorts and drinking Corona at ten A.M.?”

“Phht, no!” Dean scoffed. “Have some class. We're hunting a Japanese monster, this is Sapporo.”

Dean took a hearty gulp of his beer and set the chilled glass back on the table.

“Speaking of that monster, I got some information from the hotel staff while I was posing as the air conditioning repair guy,” Sam said, lowering his voice. “It turns out a couple of Japanese honeymooners checked into that room the day before yesterday, Kazuma and Yukina Kuwabara. The girl I spoke to said after the so called  _'malfunction'_ they were transferred to another room, which means they're probably still here.”

Dean nodded to the side, and Sam turned to observe a gaggle of excited Asian tourists clustered around one of the long, curved sofas, all clutching cameras or binoculars.

“Check the chick with the blue hair, next to that weird Fonzie looking guy,” he said. “You think that's them?”

“Dyed hair doesn't make her the Yuki Onna,” Sam noted. “But guess it's worth investigating. It looks like they're getting ready to leave for some kind of sight seeing tour.”

“And we need to be on that tour,” Dean added.

In the mountains outside Honolulu, not long before lunch time, Dean trudged along at the rear of the group of tourists, swatting irksome, over sized bugs away from his face. Sam, who'd been near the head of the parade, chatting with the tour guide, fell out of step with the rest of the group until he tailed behind and matched strides with his brother.

“See anything suspicious?” he asked.

“Yeah, a hell of a lot of bugs,” Dean responded, taking another swing at the air. “I've also come to the conclusion that khakis are _definitely_ not my style.”

Sam sighed.

“I meant with the girl,” he growled.

“She hasn't done anything weird so far. She's just gawking and taking a million pictures like the rest of them,” Dean answered.

“Hey, hold on a minute,” Sam grabbed the sleeve of Dean's shirt and tugged him off the trail, into the bushes.

The blue haired girl had stopped and was crouching down near the edge of the path, smiling with delight into the lowest branches of a huge, leafy plant. While she stared into the foliage, the rest of the group moved on without her, and were halfway up the ridge in a matter of moments. Carefully, she reached into the leaves, and pulled out a small, red cardinal, which perched on her fingertips and tilted its tiny crested head up at her.

“Ohayou gozaimasu, kotori-san,” she whispered sweetly.

Sam and Dean gaped with disbelief from behind the trunk of a tree.

“So is she a monster or some kind of Disney princess wannabe?” Dean said, under his breath.

“The book didn't say anything about Yuki Onna communicating with animals,” Sam said, lowly.

They watched and listened, silenced by their own bewilderment as the girl spoke kindly to the little bird for a few more minutes. When it flew off into the woods, she grinned happily and waved goodbye, then rose and dusted off her knees. Before she began walking again, she wiped the back of one hand across her sweaty brow and shook at her blouse.

“Atsui...” she sighed.

She went still, let out a long, slow puff of air, and nearly sent the Winchester brothers toppling down the hillside in shock when a soft flurry of snow burst from her. The icy crystals drifted to the ground, where they melted at her heels.

“Yuki Onna?” Dean hissed.

Sam nodded.

“You got the anti freeze kit?” Dean asked.

Sam pulled two pairs of blue cryogenic gloves, normally meant for handling liquid nitrogen, from his bag. He also handed Dean a set of Japanese charms he'd crafted based on diagrams in his folklore text, that were said to trap a monster's energy.

“Time to bag and bolt,” Dean said, as the Yuki Onna began strolling back up the hill towards the rest of the tour group.

Less than a minute later, on the other side of the rise, Kuwabara turned to address Yukina. She'd already wandered off to examine the flora and fauna around the trail at least three times since they got off the bus, and he found his wife had vanished yet again.

“Yukina, you've gotta stay with the tour guide,” he said loudly, aiming his shout towards the tail end of the throng.

No answer came.

Kuwabara excused himself as he nudged past stooped grandmothers and chattering teens, until he worked his way through the entire crowd. He scratched the side of his head with confusion. Yukina was not there. Kuwabara hustled back down the hill and glanced through the trees along the path. Yukina could not be seen there, either. Beginning to worry, he pulled a small flip phone from his pocket and attempted to call her, but discovered his phone was unable to find a signal that far from town.

Then, a dark, unsettling fear filled Kuwabara's gut when he realized that, not only was Yukina herself missing from sight, her youki had disappeared as well. He chose a random direction, pulled only by his instincts, and tore off into the woods. High and low, he searched for her, covering several square kilometers before sprinting back to the city and whipping out his phone once again.

One ring... three... five... The automated voice on the other end instructed him to leave a message. Kuwabara waved down the first taxi he saw, leaped inside, and dialed another number. Frantic, he waited for the call to process, stretching across thousands of miles of land and sea as the phone rang. Finally, the speaker on the other end picked up, and Kuwabara screamed into the receiver, nearly making the cab driver veer up onto the sidewalk in fright.

“URAMESHI! YOU NEED TO COME TO HAWAII! YUKINA'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!”

 

~

 

“They've been married for one week and that fool has already  _lost my sister!”_ Hiei roared in Yusuke's face, clenching both fists into tight balls in front of him.

He was seated, gritting his teeth tensely, on the floor of Yusuke and Keiko's apartment with the Spirit Detective, Kurama, and Botan gathered around him. It was early the following morning in Japan, as Hawaii was on the other side of the International Date Line, almost a full day behind them. The minute Kuwabara's call disconnected at two in the afternoon, Honolulu time, Yusuke had summoned the troops, told Keiko he might have to bolt at a moment's notice, and contacted Koenma. They were waiting for the toddler prince's reply, now.

“Hiei, calm yourself,” Kurama said, softly. “Taking your frustration out on Yusuke won't help us find Yukina.”

“I'm sure Koenma can gather some information,” Yusuke said, remaining calm for half a second, until he shouted at the opened detective kit, “That is if the little brat ever gets back to us!”

“Yusuke, you know Koenma is extremely busy!” Botan exclaimed, yanking the metal briefcase filled with supernatural items away from him protectively. “His staff members are doing the best they can!”

Before any word came from Spirit World, the door to the apartment was flung open and Shizuru came barreling inside.

“Why didn't you call me!?” she said to the entire group, glaring down at them with frustration. “I had to hear second hand from Keiko that little sister is missing.”

“ _YOUR_ sister!?” Hiei snarled. “Just where did you find the gall to claim Yukina is yours to concern yourself with?”

Shizuru dropped to her knees, pointing her fingertip dangerously close to Hiei's nose.

“She's married to my brother, I've been looking out for her for over ten years, she's my sister,” she said flatly. “Which is more than you can say. Yukina was living in my house with Kazuma and the rest of my family while you were off frolicking in demon world with your cybernetic girlfriend.”

“How dare you,” Hiei sneered and readied himself to snatch at the collar of Shizuru's shirt, before Kurama urgently interjected.

“Mukuro and Hiei are not romantically involved,” he corrected, a bit more quickly than was necessary. “And you both have every right to feel upset. Yukina is important to all of us, and I'm sure anyone in this room would risk his or her safety to protect her.”

“That's right!” Botan agreed, nodding firmly. “We all need to keep our cool and wait for Koenma to contact us.” At that very instant, the screen housed inside the briefcase began flashing bright blue. “And there he is now!”

“Greetings, humans, demons, and other,” Koenma said, glancing at Botan. The ferry girl's mouth fell open with indignation. “You'll be happy to hear that we've gathered some information that may be pertinent to Yukina's rescue mission.”

The members of the group seated on Yusuke's floor let out sighs of relief.

“On the other hand, you may be unhappy to hear that the situation could be very, very bad.”

“What do you mean very bad!?” Yusuke cried. “Don't tell me this is that fat freak Tarukane all over again!”

“No,” Koenma said. He took a moment to suck pensively on his pacifier, and the listeners on the other end sighed with relief again. “This situation might be even worse.”

At that point, Hiei snatched the case of detective items and shook it vigorously, sending Yusuke's concentration ring and demon whistle clattering to the floor.

“Hey, be careful with that!” Botan blurted.

“Koenma, if you don't tell me where to find Yukina, I will personally come to Spirit World and subject you to a slow, fiery death,” Hiei warned.

“Would you put down the screen so I can see everyone, you hothead!?” Koenma squawked. “I can't deliver my cool monologue while being subjected to threats!”

Kurama plucked the case from Hiei's furious hands and set it gently back onto the floor.

“Now, let me continue,” Koenma said, adjusting his hat and pausing to regain focus. “We have reason to suspect that Yukina may be in the hands of two notorious American monster hunters, the Winchester brothers. They and others like them serve a purpose much like yours, Yusuke, to keep the human world safe from demons, spirits, and other unruly apparitions.”

“Wait, that doesn't sound so bad,” Yusuke said. “Seems like they're some of the good guys.”

Koenma shook his head.

“Unfortunately, things aren't quite so simple,” he responded. “These North American hunters aren't employed by Spirit World, in fact, few of them are even aware of my father's layer of the afterlife.”

“What? But, I thought King Enma ruled over the entire Spirit World!” Yusuke interrupted again.

“Don't worry about that right now,” Koenma advised. “The important thing to know is these hunters are basically rogue. They live according to their own rules and don't answer to a higher power, other than their own sense of morality. Spirit World has been keeping tabs on them for quite some time, and usually we don't interfere with their actions, since they do a lot of our dirty work for us pro bono.”

“Koenma, what does the activity of these hunters have to do with Yukina?” Kurama asked.

“According to our intelligence, the Winchester brothers hopped a flight to Hawaii, only one day after Kuwabara and Yukina arrived. If they're in Honolulu, that means Yukina is in very real danger,” Koenma said.

“But, Yukina is innocent!” Botan said. “She's never hurt anyone before, why would they bother someone like her?”

“ _We_ know Yukina is harmless, but she's still a demon! The Winchesters hunt apparitions as a profession, and they don't take time to distinguish between the good and the bad!” Koenma's voice began to raise slightly as the others became more and more subdued by grim understanding. “If they've already discovered she's an ice apparition...” finally, he trailed off, lowered his head, and sighed. “You should probably fear the worst.”

Botan gasped audibly, and Shizuru's gaze fell to the floor.

“What's the fastest way to get to Hawaii...” Yusuke muttered. A dark energy had already begun rising around him. Hiei had gone silent as well, but there was no mistaking the burning hatred welling within his small form.

“I can bring you,” Botan said, choking back tears. “It's possible to create a portal between two points in the human world, but it's difficult, and takes a lot of energy. That's why we don't use it as a method of transportation very often.”

“I think in this case, speed is of the essence,” Kurama said.

“I'll try to track down the Winchesters and alert them to your arrival,” Koenma said. “If you can contact them before it's too late, you might be able to reason with them.”

“Let's go,” Hiei said. “Immediately.”

Shizuru stood with the rest of them.

“I'm coming with you.”

“Shizuru, this confrontation will be dangerous,” Botan said. “It's not a place for non-fighters.”

“You're going, aren't you?” she responded.

“Well, yes,” Botan said, biting at her lip. “But I need to navigate the portal.”

“She can come,” Yusuke stated. “Like Kurama said before, Yukina is important to all of us. It's not fair to make one person stay behind to worry while the rest of us storm off.”

“Very well, then,” Botan sighed. “It will take the better part of a day to prepare the portal. Until then, everyone else should get some rest.”

 

~

 

Halfway around the world, Dean and Sam were hauling the wriggling Yuki Onna into the basement of a vacant building in downtown Honolulu. She had made every attempt to shrug them off, hit them, and freeze them, but was thwarted initially by the thick, cryogenic gloves protecting their hands, and later by the wards Sam pinned all over her.

“I don't think so, sweetheart,” Dean said, when she tried releasing another strong burst of ice.

“Y-Yamete kudasai!” she gasped, jerking away and gasping with pain when the charm touched her body. She shrank in on herself, visibly weakened once all the wards were in place, and Dean swiftly tied her to a broken chair.

“Now that you're done trying to suck my life away,” Dean said, smirking down at her triumphantly. “How do we kill this thing, Sammy?”

“I guess just run of the mill beheading,” Sam muttered. He gazed down at the tiny woman slouched uncomfortably in the rickety seat. “The book didn't really say, but...” He shook his head and released a gruff sigh. “Dean, this seems wrong. Something doesn't add up here.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dean said in protest. “We saw her create a mini white Christmas on a ninety degree day. She's definitely the thing we're looking for!”

“Yeah, but what about the guy who checked in with her?” Sam mentioned.

“Who? That Kazoo-whatever-the-heck clown?”

“Kazuma Kuwabara,” Sam said. “Who is he? Is he her victim? Another monster?” Sam flailed his hands with exasperation. “We should try to get some information out of her before we do anything else.”

“She doesn't speak a word of English, Sam!” Dean shouted, pointing behind him at the quivering Yuki Onna. “There's no talking to her! I say we do the deed and track the guy down later.”

“Just...” Sam paced, kicking at the layer of dust on the basement floor. “Just, give me some time. I can find a Japanese dictionary, see if I can make some headway.”

He looked down into her mournful, crimson eyes staring up at him, pleading with him wordlessly. True, she had struggled when they jumped her, but wouldn't anyone? Sam recounted the facts of the situation in his head. There had been no reports of mysterious deaths in the area, no injuries at the hotel. Plus, the man accompanying her seemed happy, even exuberant. Had he not seen the display of her power with his own eyes, nothing about the girl would have informed Sam she was a monster.

“Dean, I'm sorry,” he said. “I know this was your idea, and you want to be done with it, but I have a bad feeling, and you've got to let me work through it.”

Dean slapped his forehead and stomped towards the basement stairs in defeat.

“I didn't think I'd have to make time for your bleeding heart routine on this one!” he barked. “This should have been a clean kill!”

The elder Winchester brother stormed up the concrete staircase, leaving a small haze of dust behind him. Once he was out of earshot, Sam knelt down before the Yuki Onna and stared at her curiously.

“If you understand anything that I'm saying, please tell me,” he said.

She had given up fighting the bindings around her, and could only gaze back at him pitifully.

“Watashi o kaihou shite kudasai....” she said. Her tone was desperate, features twisted up with a strange resignation.

Sam pursed his lips together, then rose to his feet. He reached into their bag of supplies and withdrew a small bottle of water, which he uncapped and held to her lips. The Yuki Onna hesitated, shying away from the rim of the bottle. He demonstrated his good will by taking a chug himself, then offered the water to her again. She swallowed down long, eager gulps, drinking about half the bottle before he took it away.

“We'll be back,” he said.

After he capped the water and gathered up their bags, he climbed the stairs, and looked down on the beautiful apparition sitting helplessly in the basement. Casting one last sympathetic look, he closed the door, and plunged her into complete darkness.

On the way back to their motel, Sam stopped into a gift shop and purchased a Japanese-English dictionary, which he consulted during the bus ride, and was still reading as they walked down the sidewalk. He shoved the book in front of Dean, blocking him when he reached to unlock the door to their room.

“Look at this,  _'kudasai'_ , she said it twice earlier. I means  _'please'_ . Does that sound like a bloodthirsty monster to you?” Sam challenged. “She's begging for her life!”

“They all beg for their lives at the end!” Dean bellowed as he shoved open the door. “That doesn't mean they aren't evil!”

“She hasn't done anything that makes me believe she's evil.” Sam slammed the book down on the desk on the far side of the room.

“Yeah, that you've seen!”

Dean was about to flop down on the bed and regain some of his stamina by taking an afternoon nap, but stopped short when he spied a folded piece of parchment lying on the mattress.

“Did you leave some weird scroll looking thing on the bed?” he asked.

“What? No,” Sam said.

Dean snatched it up, tore open the pressed wax seal and unfolded the parchment to find a neatly printed message inside.

 

_“Dear Winchester Brothers,_

_We here in Spirit World appreciate your continuing efforts to maintain order in the realm of humans. However, it has come to our attention that you may have mistakenly apprehended an apparition who had prior permission to reside in your dimension. If you are currently in possession of the ice apparition known as Yukina, please pay us the kindness of a meeting to negotiate the terms of her release._

_The meeting will convene in a wooded glen north of the Oahu Country Club, approximately three miles from your current location, tomorrow at 9:00 AM. If you choose not to attend, we will assume you are unaware of Yukina's location, and you may disregard this message. However, if you fail to attend, and are found to be withholding information from our agents, more serious measures will be taken._

_Best Regards,_

_The Eternal, Fabulous, Spectacular Koenma”_

 

Exasperated, Dean handed the letter over to Sam.

“This is a joke, right?” Dean asked as his brother scanned the note. “Please tell me this is a joke. What the hell is a Spirit World, and who is Koenma? Another one of these haunted umbrella Japanese nut jobs wandering around Hawaii?”

“Either I'm right, and the Yuki Onna girl is totally harmless,” Sam said. Dean rolled his eyes. “Or, this is a trap. Whichever it is, we need to be at that meeting place on time tomorrow, because it sounds like they plan on coming after us if we don't show.”

“Well we're showing up prepared!” Dean grumbled, finally flopping down on the lumpy mattress. He folded his arms across his chest. “Salt, holy water, silver bullets, the full arsenal. I'll have to find a hunter friendly store somewhere that'll sell me a gun on the spot. I'm not letting some fairy tale band of freaks get the jump on us because you have a soft spot for a monster.”

“You wanted to come to Hawaii, so stop complaining and accept things for what they are! I'm going to take a shower, and then read more of this dictionary. And change out of that stupid Tom Selleck outfit!” Sam shouted as he yanked open the door to the cramped bathroom and slammed it behind him.

Dean glanced down at his Hawaiian shirt, slipped the aviator shades back on his face, and quietly fell asleep.

 

~

 

Dean marched after Sam up a hill behind the Oahu Country Club the next day, this time dressed in a thin grey t-shirt and faded jeans. The temperature was already hot, even in the early morning hours, and the humidity was torturous. Hiking up rugged terrain, stumbling over tree roots and loose stones, and batting at bugs were doing nothing to help Dean's mood, especially since he'd lost three rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and was being forced to carry their gear.

The brothers checked on the Yuki Onna, whom Sam was now affectionately calling by her first name, before they left for the meeting location. Sam gave her more water, and half a sandwich, and tried to communicate in fractured Japanese that they would be back. He wasn't certain if she understood, but bringing her along was far too risky, especially if they were strolling headfirst into a trap.

After what Dean considered an obscene amount of time hiking, especially when the sun kissed sand was calling his name, they reached a clearing in the forest. The area was quiet, except for the call of several different types of birds and the buzz of insects. They were far enough from the grounds of the country club that their voices wouldn't carry, but were also surrounded on all sides by trees and brush. An ambush on terrain such as this would be a piece of cake.

“So where are they?” Dean complained, glancing around.

“I don't know,” Sam said. He checked his watched briefly. “We're on time.”

Dean's illegally purchased pistol was aimed and ready the moment an otherworldly flicker of light appeared in the air. It snapped and crackled, growing rapidly until it became a glowing yellow spheroid, about the size of a door. After fluctuating for a few seconds, the disturbance stabilized, and from it stepped five humanoid figures, two male, three female.

The elder Winchester cocked his head.

Or was it three male, two female?

“Whatever,” he mumbled.

He kept the gun trained on them and followed their progress out of the portal, becoming even more wary when the vortex snapped closed behind them and the air went still.

“Is one of you Koenma?” Sam asked.

“And no funny business!” Dean added. “I'm a hell of a shot, and don't think I'll hesitate because there are chicks and one possible cross dresser involved.”

The members of the group exchanged confused glances. The man at the front of the pack, sporting greased back hair and a foul expression, yelled at the blue haired woman to his left.

“Botan! Nanja korya!?”

“Otto!” she exclaimed, raising a hand to her cheek and giggling nervously. “Chotto matte...”

The woman set the metal briefcase she was carrying down in the damp grass, popped it open, and withdrew two small tags that were similar in size and style to the Japanese binding wards Sam made two days earlier.

“What is that stuff?” Dean asked, peering around the crouching woman at the case full of unidentifiable objects. “Some kind of weird cracker jack detective kit?”

“I have no idea!” Sam spat. “Just give them a chance!”

“I'm not gonna sit back and let her cast a weird jinx on us, Sam,” Dean warned, trigger finger growing increasingly itchy.

“Maybe they would be more willing to talk if you weren't pointing a gun at them!”

A tiny, alien looking man with furious red eyes broke his glare long enough to speak to the companion next to him.

“Eigo da na?”

“Hai, sou desu.”

“Okay, so the red haired Rapunzel is a guy after all,” Dean muttered under his breath.

The standoff persisted for a full minute as the blue haired girl fumbled with the tokens she had retrieved. When she snapped the briefcase closed, however, and jogged towards the Winchesters without warning, Dean lurched forward and pointed the gun more directly at her head. She balked and stumbled backwards, the two smaller men raised their fists as though they were ready to attack, the tall, brown haired woman at the rear of the group gasped and opened her eyes with surprise, and the man with the long red hair, standing to the right, stepped up abruptly, raising his hands in a sign of surrender.

“Please wait!” he exclaimed, in English, but with a heavy accent bungling his meaning.

“What? Breezeway? What did he just say?” Dean remarked.

“ _'Please wait'_ ,” Sam said said with annoyance.

“These,” the redhead continued, motioning towards the charms grasped in his associate's quivering hand. “to translate.”

“Dean lower your gun,” Sam pleaded.

“How do we know this isn't part of the trap?” Dean said. “This random cute girl and the hot one in the back could easily be a distraction.”

“They're trying to communicate with us!” Sam argued. “Just put the gun down and see what they want!”

Dean growled stubbornly, cast Sam a nasty look, and though he was sure he would instantly regret it, lowered the pistol to his side.

The girl stepped up to them cautiously.

“Eh heh heh...” Quirky laughter masking her apprehension, she held up the charms and began fixing them to the Winchesters' shirts. “Sumimasen... Sumimasen... Okay! Subete kanryou!” she exclaimed.

Nothing changed, at first. The two parties stood facing off in the middle of the woods, neither faction making a move, until Sam and Dean both twitched suddenly and brought their hands to their ears. A long, shrill whine penetrated their skulls, blocking out all the ambient sounds in the forest, then dissipated as quickly as it had formed.

“Can you understand me, now?” the girl asked.

Both hunters blinked at her with surprise.

“Yes!” Sam said eagerly. “We can understand you perfectly! What are these things?”

“Translation charms!” she announced cheerfully. “They allow the user to understand and be understood by any sentient creature in range, but they have a very limited lifespan, only twenty four hours at the most, and then they need to be replaced. Not very useful for long term cases, but in this situation--”

The sour looking greaser wannabe stepped up and clamped a hand down on her shoulder, interrupting her.

“They get the point, Botan,” he said. His attitude exuded danger, hostility, as did that of the shorter man off to his side. Both looked as though they would tear the Winchesters' heads off and smash them against the rocks if they were forced to hold back much longer. “Now that you know what we're saying, let's cut right to the chase. Where's Yukina?”

“We have her,” Sam explained. “But, she's safe. We haven't done anything to harm her.”

“Yet,” Dean added.

“What did you just say?” Yusuke said, cracking his knuckles threateningly.

“Look, who are you people?” Dean demanded. “Some kind of weird monster fan club? Or are all of you just freaks in disguise?”

“The name is Yusuke Urameshi, and I happen to be a Spirit Detective.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to us?” Dean replied.

“A hunter,” Yusuke added. “Like you guys. I kick the ass of any apparition causing havoc in the human world and punt them back to Hell where they belong.”

Sam and Dean traded glances, stunned that the man seemed to know much more about them than they knew about him.

“But unlike you morons, I figured out early on that not every monster is a bad one, and like a couple of grade school amateurs, you went and kidnapped one of the good ones. We're here to get her back.”

“Call yourself hunter, detective, you can say your name is Sherlock Holmes for all I care,” Dean said. “That chick we captured isn't human, and where I come from, that means she's fair game for hunting.”

“You'd be wise to take Yusuke's advice and return the girl.” The redhead chimed in, and approached them. “You're clearly not spiritually gifted, or you would have realized that my companion Hiei and I are apparitions as well. If Yusuke's words aren't enough to convince you... we will.”

“And what kind if monster are you two supposed to be?” Dean asked. “The spirit of ambiguous gender and a living wishing troll?”

Hiei's nostrils flared with rage and his body temperature began to rise dramatically.

“That little guy is a fire apparition,” said Yusuke. “And he's also the brother of the girl you're holding hostage, so if you know what's good for you, I'd suggest you take my friend Kurama's warning seriously before this whole jungle goes up in flames.”

“Enough!” The woman stationed at the very back of the group, who'd remained silent until now, suddenly shouted loudly enough to make the trees shudder. “Enough if your bravado and your useless macho insults, all of you!”

She marched directly up to Dean, nabbed the front of his shirt in two fists and glared into his eyes.

“I'm human. Are you willing to put one of those bullets through  _my_ head?” she growled.

Dean's neck craned away from her, and his upper lip curled up with apprehension.

“Not... typically...” he said. His mouth twitched into a weak grin, then melted again under the intensity of her seething glower.

“Then bring us to Yukina,” she commanded. Sam and Dean remained motionless, both brothers peeking at each other with indecision. “NOW!”

On the way back down the hill past the country club, the unlikely traveling companions made formal introductions. Out of the entire Japanese band, Shizuru, the woman who had finally screamed in Dean's face and cut him down to size, was the only full human. The presence of so many supernatural beings that he wasn't attempting to kill put Dean on full alert, and he stayed at the front of the pack, close to Sam. Unfortunately, his brother had become completely enamored with the foreign hunters, and was ignoring him.

“What's your connection to the Yuki Onna, I mean, Yukina?” Sam asked Shizuru, walking near her as they made their way back to the bus stop. “You seem pretty protective of her.”

“My sister-in-law,” Shizuru said. She made little eye contact with the brothers as they traveled, choosing instead to direct her displeased glare at the scenery. “That human she was with is my younger brother.”

“Humans marrying monsters,” Dean mumbled to himself, not far off. “Japan makes some killer porn but man are you people screwed up....”

Yusuke walked with Botan, several paces behind the others.

“Are all Americans related to Toguro or something?” Yusuke said, staring daggers into the backs of the Winchesters.

“Yusuke, what on Earth are you talking about?” Botan asked.

“Just look at the size of them! The guy with the luxurious hair makes Kuwabara look like a pygmy.”

Botan gasped and turned away from him, incensed, and ran her fingers through the tip of her ponytail.

“It's not  _that_ luxurious...” she muttered.

When they reached the sidewalk where other prospective passengers were waiting for the bus, they were accosted by Kuwabara, who ran up frantically.

“Urameshi, I got your call!” he shouted. “Sis! What are you doing here!?”

“I came to help find Yukina, since apparently you can't be trusted to look after her without someone babysitting you,” Shizuru said, viciously.

He was about to snap back at her, when he noticed the two Americans lingering near the edge of their group.

“Hey!” he roared, storming up and shaking a fist in Dean's face. “I remember you two! You were in the hotel, sitting around watching everybody like a couple of weirdos! Are you the ones who stole Yukina!?”

“Yes,” Sam admitted, calmly, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. “But it was a mistake. We heard about the frozen motel room, and the pool, and thought your wife was some kind of monster getting ready to kill the other guests in the hotel.”

“What!? How dare you call Yukina a monster!” Kuwabara screamed.

“I'm guessing you have a kink for vampiric snow women who lure people to their deaths, huh?” Dean accused.

“You fools need to update your information,” Hiei snarled. “The Koorime haven't preyed on humans for centuries, hundreds of years before Yukina was even born.”

“Koorime?” Sam asked.

“Ice maidens, what some refer to as Yuki Onna,” Kurama explained. “A millennium ago, when the barrier between the world of apparitions and the world of humans was weaker and less heavily patrolled, creatures from the other side were able to pass through more freely, and were more prone to hunt human beings, since the food source was readily available. Much of the monster lore available now was spawned during that time, and persists today, but contrary to the legends, Yukina's tribe has been in seclusion for nearly a thousand years. She's one of the first to make contact in several generations.”

“So, snow women don't suck the life force of wayward travelers?” Sam asked.

“No, you maniac!” Kuwabara protested. “They eat food just like the rest of us!”

The bus heading for downtown pulled up to the stop, and the entire group climbed on board. Dean still mistrusted the strangers, and kept the bag full of monster killing tools tucked against him protectively. Even he had to admit, though, that their story was logical, and the deaths of the other guests at the Hilton were looking more and more unlikely.

“There's one thing that doesn't make sense, though,” Sam said. He was perched on the edge of the bus seat he shared with Dean, legs out in the aisle so he could continue the conversation. “Why did Yukina freeze your hotel room and attract so much attention? From everything you've said, it sounds like she doesn't want to be bothered.”

Kuwabara's face instantly flushed a brilliant red and he spun away.

“It wasn't on purpose,” he said, voice just barely audible.

“Did she lose control of her power for some reason? Is she ill?” Botan nagged.

“It's personal, okay!?” Kuwabara cried. Several startled bus passengers jumped in their seats and turned around.

A bright glimmer of understanding sprang into Kurama's eyes and he smiled down at Hiei.

“Remember when you nearly burned down my apartment building?” he whispered.

“Shut up.”

 

~

 

On the other side of town, Yukina was still locked in the dark, dank basement, closed off from all signs of life. The room was not only pitch black, but lacked any air circulation. Every surface was caked with grey dust. Much of her youki had already been wasted trying to keep herself cool in the suffocating heat, and she was growing thirsty again. Worst of all, Yukina was unsure why she was even there.

The men who'd taken her had not tried to steal her hiruiseki stone, and she hadn't been physically harmed aside from the bit of manhandling that took place when they grabbed her and dragged her down the hill. The wards burned, though. The sear of a hot poker gnawed everywhere the charms touched her flesh. The men also seemed to be at odds with each other, aggression and doubt saturated their voices. She wished the meaning of the words had been more clear, but her knowledge of the English language was virtually nonexistent.

For a few hours after they abandoned her the night before, Yukina attempted to wrench herself free of the rope coiled around her. Unfortunately, the kidnappers were experienced. They knew exactly what sorts of knots and twists to create to make escaping completely impossible. Eventually, her strength gave way to defeat, and for the rest of the night and most of the morning, she did nothing but sit stiffly in the chair and pray for Kuwabara to come.

Yukina bolted upright when she heard the door open, and along with a stream of light, a rush of familiar energy came flowing down the stairs. Not only Kuwabara, her brother, Shizuru! Her family members rushed to her, cutting away the wards and bindings and freeing her with lightning speed. Kuwabara clutched her against him, and the vibration of his furious voice pulsed through her when he shouted.

“You two! You're the monsters, not Yukina!” he called. “How could you leave an innocent girl tied up in a cellar like this, while you walk around free!?”

“They gave me food and water, Kazuma,” Yukina offered. “And they didn't hurt me... much.”

“Don't defend them!” he shouted. “I should kill both of you right here for what you've done!”

Sam shook his head, and approached Kuwabara cautiously. During the short time he'd spent with the foreigners, the distinct feeling that he and Dean were light years out of their league had been growing. Yusuke and the others had an intimate knowledge of the supernatural that even their own father lacked. Plus, they were fearless. Dean's loaded gun had only deterred them when it was inches from Botan's head. The Japanese hunters clearly possessed a power that was both invisible and deadly, and were willing to use it if provoked.

“I know, we screwed up, but we don't have to be enemies,” Sam insisted. “From what you've said, it sounds like we're all on the same side. You know what it's like out there, you've hunted human killers, risked your lives. We have a lot to offer each other.”

“Oh, no no no,” Dean interjected. “They can have the girl back and go on their merry way but I am NOT teaming up with a bunch of monsters. It's just not what we do.”

“Clearly _'what you do_ ' hasn't been panning out that well,” Shizuru said sharply. “You two are just fumbling around killing whatever you can get your hands on without even bothering to find out what you're murdering!”

“We can only wonder how many innocent youkai have already died at your hands, and those of others like you,” Kurama said.

“As soon as we get back in touch with pacifier breath I'm gonna make a strong recommendation that he shuts you guys down,” Yusuke said, and folding his arms.

“That's not something you get to decide!” Dean yelled.

“Then perhaps we should just kill you now and dump your bodies into the ocean,” Hiei suggested, unsheathing his sword. “Seems like you spend most of your time on the road, drifting from place to place. No one will question the deaths of two run of the mill vagrants.”

“Hiei, stop that immediately!” Botan said. “Killing them makes you no better than they are! And unfortunately this matter is outside of our jurisdiction.”

“What do you mean!?” Kuwabara said. “Does that mean they just get away with kidnapping Yukina?”

“Koenma's job is to govern over the lives of humans and play a part in deciding where they go when they die. The only reason he's involved in youkai matters at all is because their existence in this world directly effects the lives of human beings. If Sam and Dean are hunting apparitions on this side of the barrier, then they aren't technically breaking any laws.”

“But they're slaughtering apparitions left and right, regardless of who they are!” Yusuke said. “Doesn't that bother you?”

“Of course it does!” Botan snapped. “But apparitions don't belong here and therefore have no protection! If hunters were going after creatures in the Makai it would be different.”

“Botan is correct,” Kurama added. “No matter how reprehensible their actions are, it's not a crime to kill apparitions in the human world. We aren't a native species. Youkai like Hiei, Yukina and myself are only allowed to stay here because of our prior service to Spirit World.”

“You people may as well still be speaking Japanese,” Dean interjected, “but what I'm getting from this is you have no right to bother us, which means Sam and I are going to pack our stuff and hit the road.”

“Well, we came here on a plane, actually...” Sam said.

“You know what I mean!”

“Wait!” Yukina detached herself from Kuwabara and approached the Winchester brothers. She gave them a long, determined stare, unwilling to shrink away even after what they had done. “We can't part ways like this. We have a duty to help them.”

“Help them!?” Kuwabara yelled. “They're the last people we should be helping!”

“You're wrong, Kazuma,” she said softly. “When you joined Yusuke, you accepted some of his responsibility, and made a vow to protect others. As your wife, I now share that burden as well. These two took me because they thought I was a threat. They were only trying to protect helpless people, which means their hearts were in the right places. It's only due to their own ignorance that they made a mistake. As fellow guardians of this world, all of us must teach them what went wrong so they don't make the same mistake again.”

“Yes, exactly,” Sam said. “That's what I've been trying to say. You guys proved a lot of the information we have is literally a thousand years out of date. But, monsters are adaptive, they use modern technology now, computers, phones. There's nothing stopping a nest of vampires from skipping town in Romania and terrorizing Hong Kong a week later. We already have a network of hunters all across the United States, but think of what we could do if we joined forces! Right, Dean?”

Dean's eyes rolled back and forth noncommittally. He crossed his arms, frowning and shifting from foot to foot.

“Right, Dean!?”

“It doesn't seem like your buddy is sold on the idea,” Yusuke said.

“He'll come around,” Sam insisted. “Why don't we just  _talk_ ? We can go back to the beach, have lunch, discuss the future.”

“I wouldn't mind going to the beach,” Botan said. Her face was hijacked by a dreamy smile.

“Seriously!?” Kuwabara squawked.

“We need to take Yukina back to your room and get her cleaned up, anyway,” Shizuru noted.

“Sam's idea has some merit,” Kurama said. “I'm not against hearing what he has to say.”

“I guess...” Yusuke cocked his head with deep consideration.

“Okay, fine,” Kuwabara groaned, finally relenting.

Yukina turned to her brother.

“Hiei?”

The Jagan master slowly and deliberately sheathed his sword.

“If they pay for your lunch, I might be tempted not to kill them.”

“Of course!” Sam said. “Yukina's lunch is on us, it's the least we can do.”

“Lunch on the Winchesters, then!” Botan chuckled as she and Shizuru ushered Yukina up the stairs.

“All right, I'm convinced!” Yusuke laughed, and bounded after them.

“Hold on,” Sam sputtered, “That's not what--”

“We should hit the buffet,” Kuwabara said. “Yukina, sweetie, wait for me!”

“I hope you came prepared, Hiei is a big eater,” Kurama said with a wink as he passed by.

“Kurama, do Hawaiian humans produce ice cream?”

“Yes Hiei, all the ice cream you can eat.”

Sam and Dean were the last people left in the basement. Dean's boots fell harshly against the bare concrete floor as he walked over to Sam and glared.

“Nice job, Gandhi. Now we have to max out our fake credit cards buying lunch for a bunch of monsters because you want to make peace with the entire world.”

Sam sighed and headed up the stairs.

“You can't mourn money you're not really spending.”

“It's the principle of the thing!”

 

~

 

Condensation from Dean's drink trickled down the surface of the smooth glass, running over the back of his fingers before dripping into the sand. His aviator shades, minus accompanying Hawaiian shirt, were intact, a lei was around his neck, and his stomach was full.

“Hey, Sammy,” he started.

“Dean, if you tell that _'I got lei-ed'_ joke one more time, I'm leaving,” Sam said, cutting him off.

“Don't get your trunks in a twist,” Dean said. “I was about to say... Maybe you were right about these people. It's mildly possible that not all monsters are bad.”

“She's married,” Sam said.

“Yeah, but the other two aren't,” Dean replied.

Head tilted back against the complimentary beach chair, Dean lounged and watched Yukina and Botan jump playfully into the surf while Shizuru stood nearby, smoking with casual interest. Botan had stormed the gift shop after lunch, insisted she and Shizuru treat themselves to new bikinis, as long as they were there, and dragged the entire lot of them to the beach.

“Shizuru, put that out and come join us!” Botan called, just before Yukina splashed her with a handful of seawater.

“Oh yes, please do,” Dean muttered. He smiled with approval at the scene taking place a few meters away.

Not far off, at one of the picnic tables closer to the hotel, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke sipped at their own drinks and observed the girls as they chatted.

“Well this turned out to be a nice break from reality,” Yusuke said. “It's too bad I didn't haul Keiko along with us.”

“I'm still kind of annoyed that my honeymoon got interrupted,” Kuwabara griped. “But as long as Yukina forgives those guys, I guess I can't hold it against them.”

“I can,” Hiei said, still watching his sister running through the spray of the ocean.

“As soon as they're done frolicking, I'd say it's time to head back,” Yusuke said with a sigh.

“Hiei and I are staying,” Kurama announced.

Following Botan's lead, he'd taken the liberty of purchasing some island appropriate attire for himself and Hiei, and was now dressed in tailored white slacks, sage green polo, and brown leather boat shoes. Hiei had donned human garb at Kurama's insistence, but the fire demon's black jeans, black t-shirt, and black sneakers still made him stick out like a bramble in a bed of flowers.

“Staying!?” Yusuke exclaimed. “How the hell are you going to get back?”

“Unlike the rest of you, I thought ahead and brought my passport with me.” Kurama smiled and took a sip of his bright pink Cosmopolitan. “We'll fly home when Kuwabara and Yukina leave.”

“Yeah, but Hiei doesn't have a passport!” Yusuke said, more loudly than he probably should have.

“Don't worry, Hiei can use his Jagan to fool airport security. I don't anticipate any problems.”

Yusuke slumped back in his chair and laughed lightly with disbelief.

“Have fun ending up on America's Most Wanted.”

“Yusuke, I can't change our plans now,” Kurama explained. “I already promised Hiei he could go swimming in a volcano.”

“Sometimes I'm ashamed to know you guys,” Kuwabara mumbled.

After a very brief dip in the ocean, Shizuru strolled back towards the hotel to sit down and dry off. On the way, she passed by the Winchesters, and made a point to ignore them. Sam kept his eyes glued to his dictionary, hoping to bridge the cultural gap between them and their new allies. Much to Shizuru's dismay, however, Dean jumped up from his lounge chair and sauntered after her.

“Hey, uh, Shizuru!”

“Save your breath.” She squeezed her hair dry and flicked the damp tips in his direction. “You tied my sister-in-law to a chair, locked her in a basement, and planned to kill her. You're lucky we didn't just claim Yukina was human and call the cops.”

“Point taken,” Dean said. “But, she's fine now, right?”

“No thanks to you.”

“Hey, I'm trying to make peace, here!”

“Take your peace and choke on it,” Shizuru said, before grabbing her towel and walking off.

Dean was left stranded among the beach chairs, unable to do anything but watch her wander away. Sam approached from behind after observing his brother's tragic failure play out.

“I think she's warming up to me, Sammy.”

“She lives on the other side of the world,” Sam said. “You'll probably never see her again after today.”

“Crazier things have happened,” Dean claimed.

In the end, Kuwabara and Yukina were able to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon without any further catastrophes taking place. Kurama and Hiei indulged themselves by taking the Big Island day trip to Volcanoes National Park, during which time Hiei admired the bubbling lava floes and Kurama ransacked the countryside stealing endangered plants. Botan reopened the portal by the next morning, and took Yusuke and Shizuru home, along with a small truckload of souvenirs.

As for wayward sons of John Winchester, they packed their carry-ons and returned to the mainland. About halfway through the flight, Sam reached into his bag to rummage for something to read, and inadvertently came across a small, folded slip of paper, wedged in the pages of the Japanese dictionary. He unveiled it, took one look, and laughed.

Dean perked up and glanced beside him.

“What are you laughing at?”

Sam held up the scrap of paper between two fingers and gave his brother a long, smug grin.

“Shizuru's phone number.”

**Author's Note:**

> ~Sadly, I've never been to Hawaii, so I had to base my vision of the island on my trips to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Google Earth.  
> ~This COULD be part of a comedic crossover series if people like it!


End file.
